In the sun-dappled glade of a secret wood, where few
mortals have ever set foot, a little elf is
busily creating things…

Ok, so the secret wood is really just a farm surrounded by trees, and actually quite a few mortals set foot there, but it sounded better to poeticize it. Welcome to the woodland; my whimsical little world of DIY’s. I’m Amber Reifsteck, better known as The Woodland Elf.

So let’s see, about me. Well, the short version is that Amber Reifsteck is a seamstress, photographer, farmer, costume maker, writer, homesteader, soap maker, animal rescuer, off-gridder, candle maker, webdesigner, general crafter, musician, blogger, fantasy and sci-fi nerd, environmental activist, and resident cow whisperer on the family farm. And yes, that is every bit as hard to fit into a conversation as it sounds. So when someone at a party asks me what I do, I usually just say I’m a flower farmer. It’s the easiest to explain.

I’ve been dabbling in creative projects for most of my life, sort of following a “Jack-of-all-trades” philosophy. I was self-taught in most of what I do. I guess having been a homeschooled child, I just never lost the knack for home-education.

Farm Markets and Online Tutorials

I’ve been at vendor at the local farm markets for several years. I sell my crafts, photo cards, and veggies, at the market, but my biggest crop is flowers. With the help of my brother / housemate, I grow a variety of mixed flowers and sunflowers. I sell them as bouquets as the markets. Over the years I’ve developed a dedicated following and am often sold out within the first hour of market. (And if any of you guys are reading this, thank you, you’re awesome!).

I also love sharing the joys of creating with my fellow do-it-yourselfers. I started by writing DIY crafting tutorials on a blog that I taught myself how to manually code in html, (back in the the days before there were all these cool instant site builders widely available). After writing those for a few years, someone suggested I try doing youtube tutorials.

So in 2012 I started a youtube channel and began posting craft tutorials. The following year I added a few cosplay tutorials and found they were quite popular. I began getting requests to do tutorials for specific costumes (so many requests, in fact, that I couldn’t even keep up with the volume). I now post new costume and craft tutorials every Thursday and every other Monday.

My Woodland

I make my home in the beautiful Finger Lakes region of Upstate, NY. Mostly I lead a “back-to-nature” homesteader type lifestyle (which I realize is in strange contrast to my sci-fi loving nerd side). I try to be as zero-waste as possible and I’m powered by off-grid solar power. (So when you watch one of my tutorials, it’s been produced with good, clean, free solar generated electricity).

Of course being off the grid also means things like carrying water or cooking lunch on a wood stove. But hey, being green and never having to worry about the power going out in a storm is a pretty cool trade off. (And besides, cooking lunch on a wood stove is kind of a fun adventure anyway 😉 )

I also currently have a small section of this site dedicated to homesteading and off the grid living tips. But I’m working to expand it with more information, so keep watch for that.

The Name The Woodland Elf

Since I’m often asked how I came to be called The Woodland Elf, I’ll explain that as well. I’ll admit, it’s a bit of a jump to go from Amber Reifsteck to The Woodland Elf, but it’s all actually Legolas’ fault. My siblings and I are huge Lord of the Rings fans, so much so, in fact, that we once recited The Fellowship of the Ring movie in its entirety, just from memory. I’m still not sure if I should be proud of that or embarrassed by it. (But don’t worry, we did change the Elvish conversations to English in our recitation. I mean come on, we’re not THAT crazy). It was inevitable that one of us was going to end up being nicknamed after one of the characters. That one ended up being me.

While Legolas was something of a minor character in the books, he was a fairly prominent member of the Fellowship in the movie trilogy. In fact it seemed like he could almost do anything in the movies. It was that aspect of Legolas, that first reminded my brother and sister of me, since I’ve always been something of a jack-of-all-trades.

The fact that I used to have a pair of “elvish” looking boots that I would run through the woods with also sort of enhanced the Legolas effect. And what finally sealed the deal, was the fact that I was making wooden swords about the same time that Orlando Bloom (the actor who played Legolas) ended up playing Will Turner…also a sword maker. So the name “the elf” was permanently bestowed upon me by my siblings and it stuck. Eventually I turned it into my business name. (Kinda the whole when life hands you lemons…) Because there’s a lot of woodland up here, I added “woodland” to my nickname of “the elf” and became The Woodland Elf.

Randomness

Aside from my markets and tutorials, I also love to write. I’ve authored several books including Do It Yourself Gifts, and The Witching Hour, an illustrated children’s book than combines my writing with my love of photography.

In my spare time I enjoy playing guitar, exploring the woods, reading a good novel or listening to music from artists that I’m far too young to know, but love just the same. (Honestly, how can you not love The Rolling Stones, The Doors, or Credence?)

I hope you enjoy poking around my little online woodland and find something of use for your own DIY adventures. And thank you for visiting.

~ Amber Reifsteck, The Woodland Elf